Hotel pools are going off the deep end when it comes to luxury, novelty and entertainment.
Ever seen one lined with Swarovski crystals? Guests at the new Thompson Beverly Hills can check out the rooftop watering hole with the glittery baubles embedded in glass, emitting what Thompson Hotels chief Jason Pomeranc calls a "shimmery" effect. "It's one-of-a-kind … very Hollywood," he says.
The guests-and-friends-only pool at Thompson's new Donovan House boutique hotel in Washington, D.C., by contrast, is more subdued, but arty, too, with a design on the bottom. "I see pools as palettes," Pomeranc says.
Other hoteliers — especially those catering to the party crowd — are making waves with swimming holes:
•Just-opened The Joule, A Luxury Collection Hotel, in Dallas has an architectural jewel of a pool with one translucent end that juts out over the street, 10 stories up. It and its lounge open to the public from 5 until midnight Thursday through Sunday. Unlike many upscale pools that allow visitors, there's no entry fee or velvet rope.FIND MORE STORIES IN: Washington Internet Florida Dallas San Diego Hollywood Puerto Rico Broadway DVDs TVs iPods Xbox South Beach MGM Grand Rio Lincoln Center Swarovski Bjorn Hanson Borgata Water Club Sapphire Peninsula Beverly Hills Thompson Hotels Ivy Hotel Gansevoort Hotel Group Jason Pomeranc Wet Republic
•The new Gansevoort South in Florida's South Beach boasts what's billed as the USA's longest rooftop pool (110 feet). Lined by palm trees, it's designed with underwater lights and music and a window where bar patrons can watch swimmers' underwater moves.
It's "an economic drain" because of the cost to build, run and staff it, Gansevoort Hotel Group president Mike Achenbaum says. "But it's a marketing tool … an opportunity to generate a buzz about the hotel."
That tactic worked for the first Gansevoort in the trendy Meatpacking District of Manhattan, where models and actresses cavort. The hotel built "a tremendous following of people who rent rooms just so they can sit by the pool," Achenbaum says.
•The renovated El San Juan Hotel & Casino in Puerto Rico has turned its oceanfront pool into an ultra lounge, with white-curtained sunbeds, deejay, massage pavilion and luxe furnished tiki-hut-style cabanas that include flat-screen TVs and minibars that rent for $500 and up a day this time of year. When not spinning, the deejay will customize hotel guests' iPods with personal poolside faves.
•Las Vegas hotels are going bananas for cabanas with electronic bells and whistles. You'll find them at most upscale casino resorts. Recent additions include the new Wet Republic adults-only party pool at the MGM Grand, where revelers watch DVDs, play Xbox games and order from their cabana's bikini-clad hostess. The Rio's new tops-optional splash-atorium is affiliated with the Sapphire strip club.
•The new guests-only Pooldeck at the renovated Empire Hotel across from Lincoln Center in Manhattan has cabanas with ceiling fans, telephone, flat-screen TV, wireless Internet and daybeds. Plus there are bird's-eye views of bustling Broadway below.
Atlantic City — not known for over-the-top luxury — is getting into the swim with five pools at brand-new The Water Club. An adults-only swimming area at the 800-room non-gaming sister hotel to the Borgata has 400 jets that keep the 80-degree water bubbling. There's a sandy beach area and cabanas, of course, plus a kids' pool and a "Sunroom" with water cascading along a curved stone wall into a pool. At night, it becomes a bar and lounge.
Across the country, boutique hotels in perpetually sunny locales such as San Diego host riotous pool parties open to anyone who can get past the velvet rope. The Ivy Hotel's pool and bar is hot there. In Beverly Hills, the newly renovated pool area at The Peninsula Beverly Hills — created as an urban oasis by designer Cheryl Rowley — caters to a quieter crowd. There, a celeb might be getting a manicure next to you in a cabana (non-guests can rent them for $250 if any are available).
Less than 10% of hotel guests actually go into the pool, veteran hotel analyst Bjorn Hanson says. But "many make their (hotel) decision" based on whether it has one. "There's competition for higher-end travelers," he says. "And if they can have a 'wow' experience (poolside)," it's a competitive edge.
In some cases, pools have become the "modern version of singles bars," he says. "There's a 'beautiful people' association. Instead of going to the bar, you go out to the pool."